Today I was commissioned for my upcoming work in Peru during the services at First Presbyterian. It was a wonderful morning with prayer, many hugs and even more tears as the congregation stood behind me in support as I prepare to leave on June 8th.
Randy designed the cover of the worship bulletin and a special photograph insert with photos from my past trips to Peru.
About a month ago, I was approached by our Senior Pastor who asked me if I would be interested in filling in for him on the Sunday after Christmas, allowing him & his wife to head out east to visit family for the Christmas season. After long consideration, I decided to take him up on the offer and was given the task of leading worship services on December 26th.
Weeks and weeks passed before I even had an idea of what to talk about. What is an appropriate topic for the day after Christmas? A message about the nativity could be seen as a day late, but despite that, it seemed like it needed to be seasonally appropriate. So after spending hours working my retail job and becoming tired of the Christmas, or I mean, holiday season, a light bulb turned on, and the idea of “Advent+” started to form. Using passages from Isaiah, 9:6-7 and chapter 12, I crafted my message into something I thought relevant to the season, and all year long.
Well, you’ll get the picture….
For those that prefer to read, here’s a copy of the text, including the Scripture passages.
Not only does CREW Youth Group make videos, so does the K-2 class!
Here’s a video about Zacchaeus the tax collector that Randy made with Drew and the help of the K-2 kids from First Presbyterian. The video was shown as part of the Mother’s Day service that was led by the elementary children.
During the week after Easter, I was blessed with the opportunity to speak to the congregation at First Presbyterian about my calling to work with Scripture Union in Peru.
Through the Chancel Chat for children and a conversation sermon with our pastor during both the contemporary and traditional services, I was able to share about how I was called to this work and what I am doing to get to Peru. It was great to share about my future and answer many questions my congregation had, in addition to hear and see all the support and joy that they have for what I am doing!
Here’s a video of what I talked about during the first service.
(Thanks to my brother Randy for recording this video, since I was busy sharing!)